Clam-shell bucket.



No. 891,899. PATENTED JUNB 28, 1908.

c. w. HUNT.

GLAM SHBLL BUGKB'I'. APPLIGATION Hum 11.4.1908

Attest: I Inventor: W by/ww flW/M 'PATBNTBD JUNB 28, 1998. o. w. HUNT.

vGLAM -SHELL BUGKET. APHJIGATION I'ILED PB. 4.1908.

2 SHEETS-SHBET 2.

CHARLES W. HUNT, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

CLAM-SHELL BUCKET.

Specification of Letters Patent.

, Patented. .Tune'23, 1908.

Application filed. April 4, 1908. Serial No. 425,133.

T0 all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES WALLAoE HUNT, a citizen of the United States, residing in Vest New Brighton, in the borough of Richmond, of the city of New York, in the State of New York, have invented certain new and useful mprovements in Glam-Shell or Grab Buckets or Shovels, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

This invention relates to clam shell or grab buckets or shovels, such as are commonly employed in handling coal, ore, &c., and in excavating, and comprise scoops or shovel members which are pivotally connected with the head of the shovel or bucket and are arranged to swing open when the tension of the closing chain or rope is relaXed. It is usual to secure to the closing ohain or rope a stop Which, by contact with the head of the bucket, limits the opening movement of the scoops, preventing the further relative movement of the scoops when they have opened to the proper eXtent. Such buckets or shovels are now commonly operated at high speed and the arts -acquire considerable momentum, so t at when the stop on the closing rope Strikes the head of the bucket the shock is considerable, frequently resulting in injury. It is the object of this invention to provide means for gradually checking the movement of the parts so as to prevent such objectionable shock. In accordance with the invention a brake is arranged to bear upon the closing rope as the scoops approach the open position, being caused to move into operative position by the opening movement of the scoops and being conveniently carried upon the frame or arms of one of the scoops.

The invention will be Amore fully explained hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings in which, for purposes of explanation of its nature, it is represented as applied to a shovel or bucket of a well known ty e.

II n the drawing-Figure 1 is an end view of a bucket to which the invention is applied, and Fig. 2 is a side view thereof.

The shovel or bucket to which the invention is applied may be of any usual or `suitable construction. As shown in the drawings it comprises a head a to which the holding or dumping rope b may be secured. Also connected with the head piece are arms c, the arms on opposite sides of the bucket being relatively pivoted so that they swing relatively about the common aXis. At their lower ends the arms c are pivotally connected,

at opposite sides, to the scoops or shovel which may form the support for the lower sheaves g. The upper sheaves h, 72/, are carried by the head piece a in any oonvenient manner. The closing chain lc passes through a guide a' on the head piece and thence around the upper and lower sheaves and is secured to the ead piece as usual.

All of the parts thus far referred to may be constructed and arranged in any usual or suitable manner, the construction and arrangement thereof not being concerned with 75 the present invention exoept so far as such parts provide for the application of a closing Chain or rope and also provide a support for the brake piece which is made to bear upon the closing chain or rope as the bucket opens.

Suitably mounted upon some convenient part of the bucket so as to stand clear of the closing chain or rope while the bucket is closed, as shown by full lines in Fig. 1, but so as to bear against such chain or rope when the bucket approaches its open position, which is indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1, is a brake piece Z. This brake piece may be conveniently carried by the arms e, on the outside thereof and near the pivot f, so that it shall bear against the closing chain or rope, as clearly shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, as the scoops approach the open position. Obviously, it may be placed in any suitable position and may be supported by any part of the bucket as the particular construction of the bucket to which the invention is applied may render convenient or desirable. Preferably a brake piece Z is carried by each scoop or shovel member, as shown in Fig. 1

of the drawings, so that the several brake pieces, bearing against the parts of the chain or rope from opposite 'directions, shall act with greater braking efficiency on the moving chain or rope and also better cushion the opening mo vement of the shovel members by contact with the chain or rope.

Various modifications in the position and means of support of the brake piece will readily suggest themselves when the invention is applied to buckets or shovels of different construotions, and it is therefore to be understood that the invention is not restricted to' the precise construction and arrangement shown and described herein.

I claim as my invention:

1. A clam shell or grab bucket or shovel having a brake piece adapted to bear against the closingrope as the bucket or shovel opens.,

2. A clam shell or grab bucket or shovel having a brake piece carried by one of the scoops and bearing against the closing rope as the scoop approaches its open position.

3. A clam shell or grab bucket or shovel comprising a head piece, .scoops lor shovel members pivotally connected With the head piece and with each other, upper and lower sheaves carried by the head piece and the scoops'or shovel members, and a brake piece carried by one of the shovel members and bearing against the closing rope as the shovel approaches its o en position.

. 4. A clam shel or grab bucket or shovel comprising a head piece, links pivotally con` nected therewith, scoops pivotally connected with the links and having upwardly extending arms pivotally connected together, upper and lower sheaves carried by the head piece and by said scoops, and brake pieces carried by said arms and adapted to bear against the closing rope passing about said sheaves as the shovel opens.

This specification signed and Witnessed this first day of April, A. D., 1908.

'oHAs W. HUNT.

Signed in the presence of- R. B. KELLY, C. C. KING. 

